Brumos Racing was well aware going into Round 8 of GRAND-AM Rolex Series competition that they were entering a particularly critical stretch of the season. Following their first win a few weeks earlier at Watkins Glen, the team was feeling confident, but that didn’t prevent them from putting in many extra hours and the hard work required to thoroughly prepare for Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Flying out to the west coast early, the crew spent several days laying the groundwork for a successful race. Their hard work paid off, as Brumos scored their own version of a triple play – qualifying on the pole, getting the fastest lap of the race, and then taking the win. The ultimate payoff, however, was the resulting jump in the points race. Brumos Racing came to Laguna Seca in 2nd place, but headed home as the Rolex Series GT championship leaders.
The team took advantage of a track test day earlier in the week, finding improvements in each session and working their way closer to a race-ready car. By the time the 15-minute qualifying session had ended, Andrew Davis had driven the Brumos #59 Porsche 911 GT3 to its first pole position of the season. Starting the race from the front, Davis never looked back, ending his stint still holding the lead. Following the driver change, Leh Keen had worked his way back up to 2nd place when a good strategy call paid off. An incident late in the race brought out a lengthy yellow, enabling Keen to conserve fuel and make it to the checkered flag without any further stops. He regained the lead and held it for the finish. The Brumos drivers led an impressive combined total of 47 laps in the race and the results also boosted Porsche to first place in Manufacturer’s standings.
Davis, who enjoyed the view of the track from the front, was proud of his team. “We had just an exceptional car for qualifying and the Brumos #59 was really on the mark for the entire race. I was thrilled with being able to get pole position, and to do it with Brumos meant a lot to me. I was determined to lead my entire stint and that was exactly what happened. We came in and the guys did a great job to get Leh back out there. From there, Leh just drove a phenomenal race and Joe LaJoie did a great job calling the right strategy. For us to have our second win in this first year of the Brumos GT program is really exciting. Now, having the point lead for the first time, we have a little cushion going into our next race, but we still need to go for race wins and maximize our performance. At the same time, we realize we are now leading this championship and that we can win it and just need to do all we can to make that happen. I’m fully confident that we have the squad to do that – our guys just don’t stop. I want to thank Dan Davis and Hurley Haywood and every member of the entire Brumos organization for this opportunity.”
No stranger to a Championship race, 2009 Rolex Series GT Champion Leh Keen is also proud of Brumos’ accomplishments this season. “That was just spectacular, what the Brumos team did this weekend. We’ve done so much just getting to this point. The pressure was really on, as far as the championship goes, coming into this race. We were sitting in 2nd for a couple of races and now we have a ten point lead in first. It just goes to show what a championship team Brumos is. Our guys just nailed it – this weekend was really as good as it gets. Andrew took the pole and just drove an awesome stint and handed me a car in first place. Then my stint was really good – the car was great to drive and Joe’s strategy was right on track. The team has the car set up so well now – this weekend’s results just show how strong we are. The guys nailed all the stops, the strategy worked out as planned, and it all just came together in a wonderful way.”
Brumos Racing will head next to Millville, NJ and New Jersey Motorsports Park to defend their championship lead. That 2.75 hour race will be held on Sunday, July 24th with the green flag set to drop at 1:00 PM ET with live coverage on SPEED TV.
Source: Brumos Racing
